Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Compliance Expert

🎯 Role Definition

A Compliance Expert is an experienced practitioner who develops, implements, monitors and continuously improves an organization's compliance program to ensure adherence to laws, regulations and internal policies. This role performs regulatory scanning, risk assessments, control testing, remediation tracking, training design and management of regulatory relationships, while embedding a culture of compliance across business units. The Compliance Expert delivers actionable guidance to business leaders, leads investigations of potential breaches, manages third‑party and AML/KYC programs, prepares regulatory filings and reports metrics to senior management and the board.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Compliance Analyst / Compliance Associate
Risk Analyst or Internal Audit Associate
Legal Assistant supporting regulatory matters

Advancement To:

Senior Compliance Manager / Head of Compliance
Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) / Head of Regulatory Affairs
Global Compliance Lead or Compliance Program Director

Lateral Moves:

Risk Management Lead (Operational or Enterprise Risk)
Privacy / Data Protection Lead
Internal Audit Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Design, implement, and maintain a risk‑based compliance program tailored to the organization’s regulatory profile, including policies, procedures, standards and control frameworks to prevent, detect and remediate compliance breaches.
Conduct comprehensive regulatory monitoring and horizon scanning to identify new and changing obligations (local, federal, and international), interpret impacts on business lines and translate requirements into actionable program updates.
Lead periodic enterprise compliance risk assessments (ECRAs) and business unit risk assessments to prioritize controls, resource allocation and remediation workstreams; produce clear risk heatmaps and executive summaries for leadership.
Develop, review and update compliance policies, standards and procedures (including AML/KYC, sanctions, anti‑bribery, privacy, conflicts of interest, gift & hospitality) ensuring alignment with legal requirements and industry best practices.
Own the end‑to‑end AML/KYC and Customer Due Diligence (CDD) program: define risk tiers, review onboarding documentation, approve enhanced due diligence (EDD), and maintain searchable records and audit trails.
Configure, manage and optimize transaction monitoring and sanctions screening systems; tune alert logic, manage false positive reduction initiatives and oversee case investigations to closure.
Conduct internal control testing and monitoring (including periodic control testing, sampling, and thematic reviews), document findings, quantify risk, and work with process owners to implement corrective actions and validate remediation.
Lead investigations into potential compliance incidents and breaches (including suspicious activity, insider trading, market abuse, data breaches), conduct root cause analysis, prepare investigative reports and recommend disciplinary or remedial actions.
Prepare, submit and manage regulatory filings and reporting obligations (e.g., suspicious activity reports, regulator notifications, periodic disclosures), ensuring timeliness, accuracy and auditability.
Manage and respond to regulatory examinations, audits and information requests: coordinate evidence collection, draft responses, host regulatory interviews and implement agreed‑upon remediation plans.
Establish measurable compliance KPIs and dashboards (e.g., case throughput, RCA closure rates, training completion, control test pass rates) and deliver regular reporting to senior management and the Board or audit/risk committees.
Design and deliver role‑based compliance training, create digital learning modules, run live workshops and measure effectiveness through assessments and post‑training compliance behavior tracking.
Oversee third‑party and vendor compliance / due diligence programs: perform risk assessments, contract review for regulatory clauses, monitor vendor performance and implement ongoing oversight controls.
Collaborate with business, legal, HR, IT and finance to integrate compliance requirements into product development, contract templates, M&A due diligence, and marketing activities to enable compliant growth and go‑to‑market initiatives.
Lead remediation programs for historical control gaps or audit findings: prioritize actions, manage cross‑functional project plans, track milestones and provide status updates to stakeholders.
Maintain and administer Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) technologies (e.g., RSA Archer, MetricStream, ServiceNow GRC), including configuration of workflows, issue tracking and reporting to improve program transparency and efficiency.
Provide pragmatic regulatory advice to product, sales and operations teams to ensure launches, promotions and customer onboarding meet regulatory and policy requirements without unduly constraining business objectives.
Support data privacy and information security compliance activities (GDPR, CCPA, PCI‑DSS, ISO 27001) by coordinating assessments, breach response plans and controls mapping between privacy/security and compliance programs.
Lead or participate in cross‑functional projects to embed “compliance by design”, ensuring controls are implemented upstream in processes and systems rather than as retroactive checks.
Manage whistleblower intake processes, perform confidential investigations, escalate findings as required and ensure protection and remediation consistent with internal policy and applicable law.
Prepare for, support and coordinate external audit and SOC/ISO assessments related to compliance and controls; respond to auditor findings and drive timely remediation.
Review and advise on contracts, marketing content and third‑party agreements to mitigate regulatory, reputational and operational risk related to compliance exposures.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Assist legal and HR teams in disciplinary and escalation processes when compliance investigations require action.
Maintain a library of regulatory guidance, FAQ’s and playbooks for business users and frontline staff.
Pilot compliance automation and workflow initiatives (RPA, script‑based triage, ML models) to increase efficiency of surveillance and case management.
Provide peer review and quality assurance for case writeups, remediation plans and regulatory submissions.
Support licensing and registration processes for regulated activities and maintain central register of licenses and reporting deadlines.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Deep regulatory knowledge across relevant regimes (e.g., AML/CTF, sanctions, KYC, GDPR, SOX, PCI‑DSS, MiFID II, Dodd‑Frank where applicable) with ability to interpret and operationalize complex rules.
AML/KYC program management including CDD/EDD processes, transaction monitoring, SAR/STR drafting and filing procedures.
Experience with GRC platforms and compliance tooling (e.g., RSA Archer, MetricStream, ServiceNow GRC, ComplyAdvantage, Actimize, NICE, LexisNexis).
Strong internal control testing and audit experience — designing test scripts, sampling methodologies and documenting findings.
Proficiency with data analysis and visualization tools (Excel advanced functions, SQL, Power BI, Tableau) to analyze alerts, trends and KPIs.
Knowledge of sanctions screening and watchlist management, including OFAC/UN/EU lists and screening best practices.
Experience with privacy and data protection frameworks (GDPR, CCPA) and practical controls for personal data handling.
Contract review skills with focus on regulatory clauses, indemnities and compliance warranties; experience drafting or editing policy documents and playbooks.
Familiarity with investigation case management systems and evidence preservation best practices.
Project management skills for remediation and compliance delivery, including use of Agile or Waterfall methodologies and toolsets (Jira, MS Project).

Soft Skills

Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to translate regulatory complexity into clear business guidance and executive summaries.
Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills — able to build relationships with business leaders, legal, audit and regulators.
Critical thinking and investigative mindset with attention to detail and strong problem‑solving capacity.
High ethical standards, discretion and ability to maintain confidentiality in sensitive investigations.
Ability to prioritize multiple regulatory initiatives and adapt to changing regulatory priorities in fast‑paced environments.
Facilitation and training skills — comfortable delivering training to diverse audiences from frontline staff to senior executives.
Resilience and judgment under pressure when responding to incidents, regulatory inquiries, or media scrutiny.
Commercial awareness and pragmatism — balancing risk mitigation with enabling business objectives.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Law, Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, Information Security or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree (e.g., LLM, MBA, MSc in Finance or Risk) or advanced professional training in compliance, anti‑money laundering or data privacy.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Law
Finance / Accounting
Business Administration
Economics
Information Security / Cybersecurity
Public Policy / Regulatory Affairs

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–10+ years in compliance, risk, internal audit, legal or regulatory roles; mid to senior level hires typically have 5+ years.

Preferred:

5+ years of compliance experience in regulated industries (banking, fintech, insurance, healthcare, telecommunications or technology).
Prior experience leading AML/KYC or sanctions programs and interacting with regulators.
Professional certifications such as CAMS (Certified Anti‑Money Laundering Specialist), CRCM (Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager), CCEP (Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional), CISSP, or equivalent are strongly preferred.
Demonstrated experience implementing GRC tools, conducting regulatory exams, and managing remediation programs.
Track record of creating practical compliance frameworks that scale with business growth and integrating compliance into product development lifecycles.